566 THE 'COUCHANT OXEN' TYPE
is done in variant versions of this motive. But the more usual type is tl
Asso-
ciated
with
double
gradation
of monu-
mental
import.
Fig. 638. Part of Cattle Group on
Architectonic Base : Gold-plated Ring,
Mycenae, (§).
Fig. 539. Two Oxen on 'Gradu-
ated Base '. Banded Agate ; said
to be from Crete, (f j.
illustrated in Fig. 539, and it is further to be noted that in these and other
cases the group rests on the ' stepped gradation', itself suggested by an
architectonic base,1 such as that more fully
shown in Fig. 538. In some cases the stepped
base beneath this group is exceptionally
clear.2 In Fig. 540—a haematite lentoid from
the Candia district—one of the recumbent
oxen has been stricken by a huntsman's
shaft.
It may be regarded as a conclusive fact
that though the insertion of this ' double
gradation' beneath the design on lentoid
bead-seals is quite exceptional, it appears on
seven out of eight specimens of this type that
have come under my personal observation, the remaining exampe
haematite intaglio from the Knossos district—preserving it in the secon
shape of a single groove. There is then a high probability that the i
Fig. 540. One Ox stuck m
Shaft; Candia District, (fh
; motive
oi.a^ ui <t oiugic ^iuuvc. i nere is men a nign ]jiuu(iuuhj ■.—-- ,
owed its wide diffusion to the existence of a well-known work of the
belonging to a more monumental class. . re.
A version of it is already found on a clay sealing from Hagia Triac a,
Mycenae). Cf.,too, asomewhaiba.S*ded aga»
1 P. o/M., i, p. 686 seqq.
- E.g. Vapheio Tomb, 'E<£. 'Apx-, 1889,
PI. X, 9, 10 (replicas of same design). P. and
C, p. S45, Fig. 428, 16 (agate lentoid,
example of this design on a threw
bead-seal of traditional M. M. Ill « '
the Morea (Berlin Cat., No. 49 ")■
from
is done in variant versions of this motive. But the more usual type is tl
Asso-
ciated
with
double
gradation
of monu-
mental
import.
Fig. 638. Part of Cattle Group on
Architectonic Base : Gold-plated Ring,
Mycenae, (§).
Fig. 539. Two Oxen on 'Gradu-
ated Base '. Banded Agate ; said
to be from Crete, (f j.
illustrated in Fig. 539, and it is further to be noted that in these and other
cases the group rests on the ' stepped gradation', itself suggested by an
architectonic base,1 such as that more fully
shown in Fig. 538. In some cases the stepped
base beneath this group is exceptionally
clear.2 In Fig. 540—a haematite lentoid from
the Candia district—one of the recumbent
oxen has been stricken by a huntsman's
shaft.
It may be regarded as a conclusive fact
that though the insertion of this ' double
gradation' beneath the design on lentoid
bead-seals is quite exceptional, it appears on
seven out of eight specimens of this type that
have come under my personal observation, the remaining exampe
haematite intaglio from the Knossos district—preserving it in the secon
shape of a single groove. There is then a high probability that the i
Fig. 540. One Ox stuck m
Shaft; Candia District, (fh
; motive
oi.a^ ui <t oiugic ^iuuvc. i nere is men a nign ]jiuu(iuuhj ■.—-- ,
owed its wide diffusion to the existence of a well-known work of the
belonging to a more monumental class. . re.
A version of it is already found on a clay sealing from Hagia Triac a,
Mycenae). Cf.,too, asomewhaiba.S*ded aga»
1 P. o/M., i, p. 686 seqq.
- E.g. Vapheio Tomb, 'E<£. 'Apx-, 1889,
PI. X, 9, 10 (replicas of same design). P. and
C, p. S45, Fig. 428, 16 (agate lentoid,
example of this design on a threw
bead-seal of traditional M. M. Ill « '
the Morea (Berlin Cat., No. 49 ")■
from